Edict LED to Silence on Abuse

By Sarah Elks
The Australian
February 19, 2014

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/edict-led-to-silence-on-abuse/story-fngburq5-1226830891531#mm-premium

A PRINCIPAL sacked for failing to report child sexual abuse allegations to police says he took the matter only to Catholic authorities because of an edict that “the bishop should not be compromised”.

A nine-year-old girl told her Toowoomba Catholic school principal Terence Hayes in September 2007 that teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes had put his hands up her skirt and inside her shirt, making her uncomfortable.

The Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard yesterday Mr Hayes did not take the allegation to police but merely issued a warning letter to Byrnes, on the advice of his “superiors” at the local Catholic Education Office.

“(We were constantly told) the CEO was the first port of call so the bishop was not compromised,” Mr Hayes said.